Federal
Government and Partners Form Rapid Response Partnership to Support Recovery
of Bird

(WASHINGTON) - Responding
to the dramatic rediscovery of the Ivory-billed woodpecker at the Cache
River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, Interior Secretary Gale
Norton and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced a multi-year,
multi-million-dollar partnership effort to aid the rare bird's survival.
The bird has been thought to be extinct in the United States for more
than 60 years.

"This is a rare second
chance to preserve through cooperative conservation what was once thought
lost forever," Norton said. "Decisive conservation action
and continued progress through partnerships are now required. I will
appoint the best talent in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local
citizens to develop a Corridor of Hope Cooperative Conservation Plan
to save the Ivory-billed woodpecker."

The "Corridor of Hope" refers to the Big Woods of Arkansas,
an area about 120 miles long and up to 20 miles wide in eastern Arkansas
where the Ivory-billed woodpecker has been sighted.

The Interior Department,
along with the Department of Agriculture, has proposed that more than
$10 million in federal funds be committed to protect the bird. This
amount would supplement $10 million already committed to research and
habitat protection efforts by private sector groups and citizens, an
amount expected to grow once news of the rediscovery spreads. Federal
funds will be used for research and monitoring, recovery planning and
public education. In addition, the funds will be used to enhance law
enforcement and conserve habitat through conservation easements, safe-harbor
agreements and conservation reserves.

"Finding a species once
thought extinct is a rare and exciting event, and USDA is pleased to
be a partner in the effort to protect Ivory-billed woodpeckers,"
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said. "At the same time, we
understand that habitat conservation can impact landowners. That's why
we're going to reach out to work cooperatively with stakeholders so
we can all share in the joy of this discovery."

The action by Secretary Norton
and Secretary Johanns came in response to news from the Cornell Lab
of Ornithology, The Nature Conservancy, and other members of the Big
Woods Conservation Partnership that they had collected primary and secondary
evidence of the bird's existence in the Cache River National Wildlife
Refuge. The primary evidence consists of video footage, while the secondary
evidence consists of seven eye-witness sightings and audio evidence
of the Ivory-billed woodpecker. In addition, recordings of the distinctive
double rap of the bird are still under analysis. After conducting its
own peer reviews of the evidence, the journal Science is now publishing
these findings.

Secretary Norton congratulated
Dr. John Fitzpatrick, Director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and
Scott Simon, Arkansas State Director of The Nature Conservancy, for
the cooperative, diligent, year-long research of their teams. Following
credible reports of sightings of the bird, a multi-partner team led
by Fitzpatrick and Simon, assisted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Arkansas Natural Heritage
Commission spent more than a year in the Big Woods of Arkansas searching
for this rare bird. The evidence collected led scientists to conclude
that the Ivory-billed woodpecker is now present in the Big Woods of
Arkansas.

"Our next step to recover
the bird must be as patient and thoughtful as the collection of evidence
to confirm the existence of the bird," Norton said. "As we
learn more, we will adjust our cooperative management effort."

The Ivory-billed woodpecker,
the largest woodpecker in the United States, is the second largest in
the world and had been one of six species of birds in North America
thought to be extinct. Prior to this recent rediscovery, there had been
no confirmed sightings of the bird in more than 60 years.

After consulting with Governor
Mike Huckabee and other officials at the federal, state and local levels,
the Interior Department will appoint members to a Corridor of Hope Cooperative
Conservation team. Sam Hamilton, Regional Director for the Southeast
Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will lead the team.

Secretary Norton also announced that the Department will appoint technical
experts to assist the conservation team in writing a recovery plan.
The team will include Dr. Jim Tate, Science Advisor to Secretary Norton
and a noted ornithologist, and David Mehlman, Director of the Migratory
Bird Program at The Nature Conservancy.

The Corridor of Hope and
recovery teams have nine assignments. They will:

Help develop
and implement plans for local citizens to participate in writing a
recovery plan that maintains historic public uses of land while protecting
the bird's habitat.

Provide information
for the consultation process required under Section 7 of the Endangered
Species Act to ensure that actions by federal agencies conserve endangered
species.

Provide information
to private landowners on the voluntary conservation activities provided
for in Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act.

Help develop
and implement plans to manage visitor access. Response to the rediscovery
is expected to trigger increased interest from bird enthusiasts and
researchers. The conservation team will carefully evaluate management
actions for public access to ensure opportunities to see the areas
where the bird has been sighted and to facilitate research without
jeopardizing its survival.

Recommend
to Secretary Norton others from local, state and federal agencies,
nonprofit organizations, conservation groups hunting and fishing groups
as well as private landowners who should be included in the recovery
planning effort.

Make recommendations
for habitat that needs to be conserved through conservation easements,
safe harbor agreements, purchase from willing sellers or other means.

Help develop research
and monitoring protocols. The recovery team will also reexamine previous
credible reports of sightings in its historic range over the last
few decades.

Develop recommendations
for the best use of federal funds being allocated to aid the bird's
recovery, utilize the Cooperative Agreement with the State of Arkansas
under section 6 of the Endangered Species Act and work with private
partners to integrate federal funds with private funds as part of
an overall recovery plan.

Develop
effective communications tools, including the Internet, to inform
bird enthusiasts, hunters, anglers, and others about significant developments
related to the presence of this bird and its ultimate recovery.

The conservation efforts
to be established for the benefit of the Ivory-billed woodpecker will
emphasize working with local citizens and private landowners. The Interior
Department will invite them to help develop the multi-year recovery
plan that maintains historic public uses of land while protecting the
bird's habitat.

The recovery plan will adjust
to emerging knowledge of these rare birds, their activities and habitat.
Priority will be placed on developing a long-term plan that integrates
federal, state, local and private resources. Recovery efforts will utilize
partnerships, safe harbor agreements, easements and land purchases from
willing sellers.

Through its cooperative conservation
initiative, the Fish and Wildlife Service has a variety of grant and
technical aid programs to support wildlife recovery.

"These programs are
the heart and soul of the federal government's commitment to cooperative
conservation," Norton said. "They are perfectly tailored to
recover this magnificent bird. Just as innovation and partnership are
recovering whooping cranes that were nearly extinct, I am hopeful that
by working together, a secure future lies ahead for the Ivory-billed
woodpecker."

Cooperative conservation,
a cornerstone of the Bush Administration's environmental protection
policies, exemplifies a new environmentalism focused on performance,
partnerships, innovation and incentives to achieve the Nation's environmental
goals. The programs preserve millions of acres of habitat, improve riparian
habitat along thousands of miles of streams and develop conservation
plans for endangered species and their habitat across the country.

President Bush recently issued
an executive order directing that federal agencies that oversee environmental
and natural resource policies and programs promote cooperative conservation
in full partnership with States, local governments, tribes and individuals.
Local involvement is critical to ensuring successful, effective, and
long lasting conservation results.

In addition to attracting
the Ivory-billed woodpecker, the "Corridor of Hope," including
the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, is home to 7 endangered species
and 265 species of birds-over a quarter of the U.S. total. Some 80 percent
of the fish species in the lower Mississippi River Valley inhabit the
waters in the area, which also boasts thousand-year-old Tupelo and Cypress
trees.

The refuge remains open to
visitors. However, while determining the appropriate level of use, refuge
managers have, on an interim basis, established a 5,000-acre managed
access area in the 65,000-acre refuge. The Fish and Wildlife Service
has established five access points for refuge visitors hoping to catch
a glimpse of the woodpecker. The Service is working with refuge partners
on the construction of viewing towers to make viewing easier. In addition,
the Fish and Wildlife Service has increased its law enforcement presence
in the refuge to ensure protection of the refuge's resources, including
the rediscovered bird.

The Ivory-billed woodpecker
has been admired by birders and for many years. Phillip

Hoose, in his book titled
The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, wrote that many who have observed
the bird, from John James Audubon to President Theodore Roosevelt, have
nicknamed it "Lord God bird" and "Good God bird."